Steam iron



KLJ

May 1, 1952 J. R. GOMERSALL 3,031,781

STEAM IRON Filed July 7, 1958 A tu# United States Patent O f 3,031,781 STEAM IRON .lohn R. Gomersall, Elgin, Ill., assgnor to McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 7, 1958, Ser. No. 746,946 1 Claim. (Cl. 38--77) Tlhis invention relates generally to a steam iron and more particularly to an improved ller and valve control mechanism construction for a steam iron.

Steam irons are of two general types, namely, the tea kettle type in which all of the water is brought to steaming temperature and the flash boiler type in which the water is vaporized drop-by-drop on a hot plate. r[he present invention is directed to steam irons of the ash boiler type. The ash boiler type steam iron includes a steam generator, a water reservoir and a valve between the steam generator and Ithe water reservoir. The valve serves to meter the flow of water from the reservoir to the steam generator and often is constructed so as to prevent passage of water `from the reservoir to the steam generator whereby the steam iron can be used selectively as a dry iron or as a steam iron.

A ll passage is `generally provided which extends through ythe front upright member of the handle to the reservoir. Desirably, the till passage is vertical when the iron is in upright or operating position. Furthermore, it is desirable for the valve control rod to extend through the till passage.

If a hot steam iron is left on hee (idle, or upended position), water will evaporate. Most of the vapor will escape harmlessly through the till passage. However, some of the vapor will condense in the till passage. Such condensation is unobjectionable if kept inside the water spaces of lthe iron. Unfortunately, when the iron is on heel, the iill passage is tilted below the horizontal, and the lill passage will collect water. Such water eventually may cover the opening through which the valve control rod passes into the till passage. ln prior constructions, the water has tended to leak out through this opening.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a steam iron having a ill passage and valve control rod construction that prevents such leakage.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a steam iron in which such leakage is eliminated by eliminating moving seals below the condensate water line with the iron on heel.

A still further object oi the inst-ant invention is to provide an improved steam iron construction which construction is easy to assemble and prevents condensate from seeping between a valve control mechanism and the handle when the iron is in an upended position.

Other objects and uses of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the ensuing description in view of the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side View of a steam iron embodying the present invention, showing the steam iron in a horizontal operative position in solid lines and in an upended idle position in dashed lines;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the forward portion of the steam iron shown in FIG. 1 showing details of construction of the lill tube and valve construction; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional View similar to FiG. 2 but showing lthe position of the parts when the iron is placed in `an upended idle position as shown in phantom view in FIG. l.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, an electric steam iron, generally indicated by numeral 10, is shown in a horizontal operating position and in phantom View in an upended idle position. The

3,031,781 Patented May 1, 1962 ICC iron includes a sole plate 12 having an electric heating element 13 cast therein. The sole plate is provided with a plurality of steam vents 14. A shell 16 is attached to the sole plate. A plastic handle 18 is suitably attached to the shell for manual lifting and operation of the steam iron. 'Ihe handle 18 includes a front post 20 and a rear post 22 connected by a horizontal bight or grip 24.

The steam iron 10 also includes a steam generator 26 defined at the bottom by the sole plate 12. A water reservoir 28 is mounted within the shell and is connected to the steam generator through a valve 30 which meters the ow of water between the water reservoir and the steam generator, and which can also stop such ow entirely.

Water is supplied to the water reservoir through a water or vent passage 31 in the front arm of handle 18. The water passage comprises a vertical bore 32 which extends from the bottom of the front post 2t? to the junction of the postl with the lgrip 24. The front post also has a lateral passage 34 which extends from the forward portion of the post and opens into the aforementioned vertical bore. A metal sleeve or collar 36 is inserted in the forward opening of lateral passage34 to provide a pleasing appearance and to protect the edges of the passage.

The aforementioned water reservoir is connected to the bore 52 by a till tube 40 so that water poured into the water or vent passage 31 through the lateral passage 34 (with the iron tilted up towards idle position) flows into the water reservoir. A gasket 42 seals the fill tube 4d to the handle 18.

The aforementioned valve 30 includes a valve seat 44 and a valve steam or control rod 46 which cooperates with .the valve seat to shut oit the ilow of water to the steam generator. Valve 3l) is controlled by means including a control knob 43. The knob which is rotatably mounted in handle 18 is connected to the valve stem or control rod 46 to raise and lower the valve stem from the valve seat, thereby selectively opening and closing the valve. A valve needle 50 mounted at the bottom of the rod 46 extends through the valve seat for metering the flow of water with the rod in raised position.

The valve stem or control rod 46 has a C-washer 51 mounted thereon with a dished disk 52 supported thereby and forming a seat for a coil spring 54 urging the stem 46 toward a closed position. The valve stern is slideably and rotatably mounted in a stem guide 56. The stem guide is threadedly mounted in the handle at the top of the water passage. A cylindrical tube 58, which is integral with the stem guide, is coaxial with the axial passage. The tube is substantially coextensive with the axial passage, thereby encasing stem 46 for substantially the entire length of passage 32. The tube 58 is open at the bottom within the till tube 4t?.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the iron is in its idle position a water level line 6d is determined `by the lowest point of the opening of vent passage 31 into water reservoir 2S. This lowest point is a part of the fill tube 4t), which connects the vent passage 31 to the reservoir, and forms a lip over which water can spill into the reservoir. In the initial filling of .the iron only a predetermined amcunt of water is poured into the iron. This predetermined amount of water :is such that when the iron is in an upended idle position the water level will not rise above the line 60. As the iron is used the amount of water within the reservoir obviously decreases and the water level may fall well below the line 60 when the iron is in its idle position. However, as stated above, with the iron in idle position some water will evaporate. The water vapor thus created may escape harmlessly through the opening 36 but some of the vapor will condense Within the vent passage 31. As water condenses Within passages 32 and 34, which make up the water or vent passage 31 yalong with lill tube 40, condensate collects at the end of passage 32. This condensate will rise only Ito the water level line 60 and any additional condensate will spill back into the reservoir.

The length of tube 58 is preferably substantially equal to `that of the vent passage 31 and the tube is preferably so spaced from the Walls of the vent passage 31 that when the iron is in its idle position the open end thereof Will extend above the water line 60. Thus, the level of the condensate never reaches the level of the open end of the tube and, since the tube 58 'is provided with imperforate walls, the slideable rotatable connection between the valve stem 46 and the stem guide 56 is protected from water Iand there is no need to provide packing or a `gasket between the moving valve 46 and the stem guide 56. It is also evident that the threaded mounting of guide 56 n the top of vent passage 31 requires very little care to provide a Water-tight seal between the guide and handle, particularly since the handle is made of plastic. Furthermore, the assembly of the guide to the handle is relatively simple.

While a speciiic embodiment of the instant invention has been shown and described herein, it is to be understood that variations may be made without departing rfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as deiined in the appended claim.

The invention is claimed as follows:

In a steam iron having an operating position and an idle position, a water reservoir, a vent passage connected to said reservoir, when said iron is in said idle position said connection of said vent passage and said water reservoir defining a lip over which water will spill into said reservoir, a movable control member extending through the top of said vent passage, and a tubular meinber surrounding `a substantial portion of said control member, said tubular member having a reduced diameter guide portion xedly engaged in the top of said vent passage and an elongated imperforate open end guard portion, said guard portion being spaced Vfrom the walls of said vent passage and when said iron is in said idle position having its open end disposed above the level of said lip whereby said guard portion prevents Water from reaching the connection between said control member and said guide portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,746,183Y Kistner May 22, 1956 2,755,574 Herman July 24, 1956 2,850,816 Kistner Sept. 9, 1958 2,903,804 Kistner Sept. 15, 1959 

